


Medication

by K (Thiswasmydesign)



Series: Wammy's House Series [14]
Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Birthday Present, Explosives, Gen, Medication, Mello's explosives, Near is 10... tomorrow, Wammy House, Wammy's Era, Wammy's house education, friendship before the fall out, sense of impending doom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 08:44:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13900440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thiswasmydesign/pseuds/K
Summary: Mello has issues with his concentration, and Roger thinks he might be able to get him some help. Mello agrees, but has his own agenda.





	Medication

**Author's Note:**

> Another drabble/short story from the connected series that can all be read separately

Mello had started medication that morning, and Near was amazed to see him finally concentrating on his work.

Contrary to the beliefs of many of the other children, Near knew Mello was as intelligent as all of them if not more so. However, he had never been able to focus on his work. Everything had to be fun for Mello, preferably loud and disruptive, or he simply wasn’t interested. Near could be happy with quiet games- Rubik’s cubes and jigsaw puzzles, chess and dominos. Matt would play with his computer games, but Mello needed more to keep his attention.

However, with this new medication Mello had sat down with a heavy textbook this morning and an hour later he had finished it. He hadn’t moved from the chair. An hour of unbroken concentration was very unusual for Mello.

A few days before Roger had finally reached the end of his patience. He had been trying to convince Wammy for years that Mello needed to be assessed by a professional due to his erratic behaviour and inability to focus on anything despite his genius IQ. Roger was fairly sure that a solution could be found. Wammy had always argued against it, convinced that Mello's behaviours were personality rather than pathology.

However, Wammy was away more often now, travelling with L on his detective missions. Roger had a greater role in the House and he had finally managed to arrange an assessment for him after Mello had become bored and drugged Roger’s tea with a sedative so that he would be able to sneak out shopping for clothes and chocolate rather than complete his lesson on ciphers.

Of course, he was not surprised when Mello, who was self-aware enough to control his behaviours when under assessment, behaved impeccably during the appointment. Indeed, aside from wearing a feather boa to the appointment he was rather convincing as an above average child without any difficulties. However, Roger attended the appointment with him and described Mello's inattention and overactivity, his distractibility and destructive tendencies, and so the doctor prescribed Mello medication for ADHD.

Near wasn’t sure he liked Mello as much on medication. Certainly, all of Wammy's house were able to get their work done, able to concentrate, but as hours wore on to lunchtime and Mello remained studious, the quiet began to be oppressive. Mello's usual crashing around and even the loud snaps of his vicious biting of chocolate had become a back in track to Wammy’s house. Without it, Near found himself getting bored.

Lunchtime's food fight - usually started and finished by Mello - never arrived. The Wammy's orphans ate their meals in peace and quiet while Mello told Near about his reading that morning and how he was going to test an experiment that afternoon when they were allocated time in the science labs. Near didn’t listen much to what Mello was saying, stirring the sauce from his white fish into his mashed potatoes and eating very little. He considered what would happen if he flicked mash at Mello - would he join in? Would Near get into trouble? He wasn’t brave like Mello, he was upset if he was told off (not that he would ever show it to anyone but his best friend). No matter how much trouble he got in to with Mello the other boy always protected him; would this altered Mello protect him too?

The afternoon passed by with Near and Mello in separate labs. Near was focused on forensic pathology, utilising cadavers to investigate the effects of various household substances on the human body after death -useful, he felt, to know for a future detective career. It was the target of all Wammy's children to be the next L, and Near was sure that when Mello took on the role he would value Near's complimentary abilities as part of his team. Mello didn’t take much interest in the forensic aspect, so Near prepared to fill that relative gap in knowledge.

Mello was in a different lab, testing some theory he had created that morning when he had been so odd. Near expected to hear something, some crash of glassware or burst of flame, something to show that Mello had become distracted as usual and was causing chaos, but whenever he glanced toward the glass of the door he saw Mello slaving over his equipment, carefully adding chemicals at different stages of the process.

“Are you finished for the day?” the calm Mello asked him as evening approached, disturbing his work. Near nodded, quietly cleaning up after himself and washing up, removing his eighteenth long lab coat of the day (the prior seventeen had all been marked or smudged, and Near could not tolerate anything less than the pure white).

“Ready,” Near finally agreed, glancing around the spotlessly clean lab for one final check.

“We should get some food then,” Mello suggested, then held up a bag. “Would you like to help me test my invention afterwards?”

“If you like,” Near agreed, non-committal. Surely this medication should be wearing off by now? When would he get the real Mello back?

Not for dinner, where again everyone ate undisturbed. Near even had to offer his chocolate mousse dessert to Mello rather than it being stolen from him, picking at his cauliflower and white cheese.

“Did you do it?” Matt was unusually excited, ignoring his electronics even after his dinner was finished and reaching for Mello’s bag. Mello forcefully slapped his hand away.

“Careful!” he yelped, the first time Near had heard him express emotion all day. He suppressed the smile that wanted to creep in, taking a bite of his picked at dinner instead. “I haven’t tested it yet.”

“Yeah, but it worked, didn’t it?” Matt grinned. “Oh, this is going to be _good!_ ”

“What?” Near asked, trying to think what Mello had been talking about at lunch.

“You weren’t listening?” Mello looked affronted. “I told you my brilliant plan and you didn’t even listen? Some friend you are.”

“Mello,” Near tried to look apologetic rather than blank or curious. “I…”

“And to think, all I’ve done for you,” Mello huffed.

“But, Mello…”

“At least now I know what I’m giving you for your birthday tomorrow,” Mello grinned cruelly. “Since you’re not a good friend at all, I don’t have to get you anything, huh?”

Near had not forgotten his tenth birthday the next day; the day he would take the first of the tests that would rank him among the other children at Wammy’s house, that would decide where he would be in the line of succession. He was quietly confident that he would do well; he was going to go for top spot, determined that he would beat the score for A and B, and perhaps even for Mello. So long as he scored highly enough he could continue to learn how to be L, and between him and Mello they could work together than be even better than L. However, he was worried about asking his friend about this until the test was done, frightened that he would not be good enough.

“I didn’t mean to,” Near studied the cauliflower cheese, the sauce now congealing sticking to his fork in an unappealing way as it grew cold. “I should be a better friend, Mello, I’m sorry.”

“Hey, I’m just kidding,” Mello laughed. He glanced at Near’s plate. “I get it, you’re nervous for tomorrow. You shouldn’t be though, Near, you’re going to absolutely ace it. But you’ve hardly eaten anything, you need to keep your strength up. How’s your brain meant to work without any energy?”

“I’m not hungry,” Near complained, pushing the plate away. Mello pulled a bar of white chocolate from his pocket, snapping off a square and holding it up.

“Open up,” he demanded, pressing the sweet to Near’s lips.

“I don’t…” Near tried to say that he didn’t like sweets, but it was a lie and both of them knew it. Mello shoved the chocolate into his mouth regardless, a warning look threatening consequences if Near did the unthinkable and spat out chocolate. Near had little choice but to eat it, continuing with each piece Mello fed him until the bar was gone.

“Would you like to see your actual present?” Mello asked him. “I figured you’d be a bit busy tomorrow, so I’ve got everything ready for tonight.”

“You don’t have to…”

“Yes I do,” Mello huffed. “You’re my best friend, and you’re turning double digits! You’ll like it, I promise.”

“Okay,” Near agreed reluctantly, allowing Mello to lead him by the hand and following an excited looking Matt who rushed ahead outside and into the trees.

Near froze on the edge of the large clearing, pulling strongly against Mello to halt their progress. He was staring at the horror attached to the trees which looked exactly like something Bully Backup would do, though B had left the orphanage a few weeks back and had not been seen since.

Attached to every tree around the clearing were various sized plushie sheep, every colour and all of them as horrifying to Near as every other. There was a small gap, two or three trees without them that Mello was using as the entrance, but otherwise as far as he could see there were sheep.

“Mello, what is this?” Near demanded, finally pulling out of Mello’s grasp and crouching down on the floor, careful of his white scrub trousers with the dirt.

“Near, don’t you trust me?” Mello whined, taking hold of both Near’s wrists and pulling him to his feet and in to the clearing. “I know, I know, it’s horrible, that’s why you get one of these…”

Mello handed him a pellet gun that was not loaded. Near took it awkwardly, trying to mirror how Mello had held it, copying right hand to left and trying to keep his eyes off the trees.

Mello reached into his bag from his experiment that day and drew out a full tub of small round pellets, taking the gun back from Near momentarily to fill it up.

“Okay, this is the test shot, so we’re going to stand really far back,” Mello suggested, pulling Near away from the centre of the clearing and waving to Matt to get back as well. “Aim at one of the sheep at the other side of the clearing.”

Near lifted the pellet gun and tried to aim, but his aim was lousy and they all knew it from experience. Mello helped him, his hand wrapping round Near’s on the gun and correcting the aim.

“Squeeze gently,” Mello suggested, and Near fired.

The pellet hit the sheep, sinking into the fluff. Near scowled; it wasn’t all that satisfying, since after shooting the sheep there was nothing but a small hole in the fluff.

“Well that’s rubbish,” Matt grumbled, moving to go closer to the sheep. Mello threw out a hand, holding him back, and suddenly the sheep burst into flames.

“Woah,” Near giggled, studying the pellets in the gun. “Is that what it’s meant to do?”

“No,” Mello grumbled. “Not exactly. Let’s go closer.”

Near aimed the pellet gun from the centre of the clearing and, with Mello’s help, fired at the sheep below the one he shot before.

The explosion that sounded made him jump, his finger accidentally tightening on the trigger again and firing off another pellet which somehow managed to hit a sheep on the next tree, which exploded as well.

“Damn that’s hot,” Matt cursed without thinking while Mello threw back his head and laughed, delighted.

“It worked!” Mello rejoiced, fingers itching to take back the gun and explode more and more of the targets but holding himself back. This was Near’s birthday present after all. “Oh, I’m definitely making this again.”

“Is this why you took that awful medicine?” Near realised, surprised.

“Yep, been trying to work this out for weeks but I couldn’t crack it,” Mello shrugged. “Couldn’t ask you, since it’s for your birthday and all.”

Near blinked but was glad that his friend Mello acknowledged that he was useful to have around. Once he turned ten he needed to show Mello that he could be useful to him to work together as L, otherwise as Mello got older he’d just get more separate as he continued to learn to be L, while Near had to follow a different career path.

“You’re not going to take that medicine again, are you? I like the proper Mello.”

Mello looked surprised but laughed it off. “Nah, can’t stand the stuff. You’ll just have to cope with the real me. Who’d want to change perfection?”

Mello struck a pose straight from a modelling catalogue, and Near laughed at him before looking back at the horrible sheep.

“Do you think Roger heard the explosion?”

“Probably,” Matt nodded, “But I barricaded all the doors after you left the building, so we have time.”

Near glanced to Mello. “Help me?”

“Always,” Mello reached out and covered Near’s hand on the gun.

Near fell asleep that night by counting sheep exploding.


End file.
